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TERMS DESCRIBING INFUSED LEAF |
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BRIGHT : Alive, as opposed to a dull looking infusion. |
DULL : Opposed to bright. |
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EVEN: The term is usually combined with 'bright' or coppery. No irregularity in colour. |
COPPERY : Colour of infused leaf, usually denoting a good quality tea. Reference particularly to CTC. |
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MIXED/UNEVEN : Infused leaf which has more than one colour. |
GREEN : Generally undesirable. Typical of first flush. |
TERMS DESCRIBING LIQUOR IN TEA |
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AUTUMNAL : A seasonal term applied to teas grown during the period, possessing varying degree of flavour. |
BAKEY : Unpleasant taste usually caused by very high temperature and giving out of too much moisture during firing. |
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BODY : A liquor possessing fulllness and strength. |
BRIGHT : As opposed to dull. |
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BRISK : A live taste in the liqour, as opposed to flat or soft. |
BURN : Generally applicable to Darjeeling teas, denoting a fully fired cup character. |
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BURNT : Tea that has been subjected to extremely high temperatures during firing. Undesirable. |
CHARACTER : A most desirable quality which also permits recognition of the origin of growth of the tea. |
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COARSE : Opposed to brisk. Generally descriptive of secondary CTC dust. |
COLOUR : Denoting depth of colour. Different growths/grades possess varying depths of colour. |
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DRY : Slightly bakey or high-fired. |
CREAMY : Precipitate obtained on cooling of tea. A bright cream indicates a good tea. |
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CONTAMINATION : Taint. A taste foreign to tea, caused by contact or proximity to an odorous substance e.g. oil, spices, chemical, bacteria etc. |
DULL : A liquor that is neither clear nor bright/brisk. Caused by several factors, such as bacteria contamination, faulty firing or excessive moisture content. |
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FLAT :Lacking in briskness.Caused by age,faulty storage. |
FRUITY :A taste acquired by over-fermentation and/or bacterial contamination. |
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FULL :A liquor possessing strength and body. |
HIGH-FIRED :A tea which has received too much fire. |
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FULLY FRIED :Slightly over-fired.The term cautions for ensuring that future manufacture does not become high-fired. |
HARSH :Usually the result of immature tea or tea made from coarse leaf. Ineffecient fermenting/drying may cause harshness. |
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MOULDY :Teas gone off through age,or damaged by water. |
MUSTY :Suspicion of mould. |
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OLD :Having lost most original attributes through age. |
PUNGENT :Extremely brisk.Most desirable. |
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QUALITY :Essential characteristics of a good tea. |
SMOKEY :Self-explanatory. |
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SOFT :Liquor character reverse of brisk;lacking life. |
STEWY :Caused by too slow a fire, where fermentation has been allowed to carry on too long. |
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STRENGTH/STRONG :Substance in liquor - Body. |
SWEATY :Undesirable taste due to storage in heaps on floor for long durations. |
| THIN :Lacking in body-often due to over-withering or inadequate fermentation. | WILD :Liquor character found in end-of-season teas.Undesirable. |
| ACCEPTABLE :A tea which,inspite of a fault, can be taken by the market. | ATTRACTIVE :Well made, uniform in colour and size. |
| BLACK :Describing colour of dry-leaf - a desirable characteristic for Orthodox teas. | BLACKISH :Used for CTC Tea-mainly during first-flush-desirable for the internal market. |
| BLOOM :A live, rather than dull looking tea. Bloom is often lost by over handling/cutting, during sorting. | CASE-HARDENED :Hardening of the outside-case of the leaf,caused by too quick and hard a fire. Such teas seldom keep well. |
| BROWN :Undesirable leaf colour both for Orthodox and CTC. | BOLD :Pieces of leaf that are too big for a grade. |
| CHESTY :Taint caused by unseasoned chest panels. | |
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